Oil prices continue to fall on Wednesday evening after the release of data on oil inventories and inflation in the United States.
The price of July Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange stands at $76.19 a barrel by 5:54 p.m. on Wednesday, down $1.25 (1.61%) from the previous session’s closing price.
The price of WTI crude futures for June trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) was down $1.41 (1.91%) to $72.3 a barrel by that time.
U.S. commercial oil inventories rose 2.95 million barrels to 462.58 million last week, according to a weekly report from the nation’s Energy Department. Experts had expected a 2.5 million-barrel drop in inventories.
“Downside risks to liquid fuel demand growth will be present through the end of 2024, but we expect seasonal increases in oil consumption and OPEC production cuts to put some upward pressure on oil prices in the coming months,” the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted.
Consumer prices in the U.S. rose 4.9% in April compared to the same month last year, according to Labor Department statistics. The consensus forecast cited by Trading Economics assumed inflation at 5 percent, the same as in March.
Inflation is a key indicator that markets watch because it plays an important role in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions.
